Promoter Barry Hearn is confident of signing up Robin Reid for a summer showdown with Ulsterman Brian Magee.

With a unanimous decision, Magee retained his IBO super-middleweight title for the seventh time last night at Belfast's King's Hall after a gruelling duel with tough Nigerian Jerry Elliott in which he had to survive a first-round knockdown.

Now Hearn will have further talks with former WBC super-middleweight champion Reid in order to persuade the 37-year-old to face Magee in Belfast.

"I don't have any plan B, only a plan A and that is a fight between Brian and Robin Reid back at the King's Hall and I believe we will sell out with that," said Hearn.

"I have been working hard for some time on the fight and I believe that we can make it. It's a big fight and it's a fight in which both fighters have everything to gain."

Champion Magee did not expect such a tough title defence, but believes it was just what he needed before moving on to face someone like Reid, who last year went the distance with Germany's Sven Ottke in an IBF title fight.

Meanwhile, 33-year-old Londoner Richard Williams insists he will not retire, despite failing to reclaim the IBO light-middleweight title from Sergio Martinez, the Argentinian who took the belt from him last June.